Indefinable Solace
by Originals143
Summary: After going through a traumatic experience and a painful accusation of kidnapping, murder and drug addiction, the two inspectors find an unknown comfort in each other.


**A/N : **This time I am not going to bang my head and go on yelling that "CID is not just about Abhijeet and Daya" and "Others should be given their much-deserved importance". I have had enough of EVERYTHING! Literally!

So, people who are completely incapable of reading stories without Abhijeet and Daya (the "Duo" in other words), let me warn you in advance that this story has absolutely NO presence of them both. So you guys can easily skip this and return to the numerous lot of stories - which highlight Duo's endless emotions and Abhirika's romance – rather than getting disappointed later with the absence of the Duo!

And one sincere request to all my dear "Guests" (specially the ones who do nothing but complain) – Please! Please mention your name while reviewing. It makes us feel strongly that you people are simply afraid and or have too much of cowardice to say your names, and hence go on complaining and bashing the writers simply by posing yourself as "Guest" and get away with it!

That being said, now about the story : After reading this, I am sure many of you would be raising doubts on why have I shipped these two. Well then, let me tell you guys that I have NOT shipped them as a romantic couple here. Even I myself don't fully approve of their pairing. The level is strictly maintained to friendship – pure, platonic friendship in this case. This story is basically an attempt to convey that – whenever two people go through a similar experience in life, that's when their minds connect, and that's how they become friends. They may take time to realize that, but that one common factor – be it an utterly horrifying trauma – is enough for their loneliness and fear to vanish, and for them to find companionship in one another. So guys... here's it – the story or the efforts of writing, according to me...

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As he entered the posh area of the cafeteria to get his plate of lunch, all he wanted to do was – sit peacefully without any disturbance, and relish the contents, however simple and flavourless they may seem, in that half an hour which he had gotten with a great difficulty. It was a particularly tiring day, with ACP Pradyuman and Daya being away at Delhi for an important conference, and Abhijeet, Rajat and Freddy busy with the investigation of an old and pending case. Which left only him, Sachin and Nikhil to man the bureau and the increasing pile of work.

After spending almost the entire morning poking his head in the computer screen and the files simultaneously, it was no surprise, therefore, to him that his stomach was growling with hunger. If it had not been for Sachin, who insisted him to keep his work aside and eat something, he wouldn't have realized that it was almost 2.30 in the afternoon by the time he came down, looking weary and thoroughly drained.

As he made his way to the table after filling his plate, he saw her sitting across the room, alone and lost in her food, her silky hair flowing slightly in the cool breeze which came from the half-open window of the cafeteria. Wondering what was she doing all alone there, he instantly went over to her table.

"Hi!" he looked down, as she raised herself from her plate momentarily. "Oh hi Vineet!" she smiled and gestured him to occupy the seat next to her. "Why are you sitting all alone? And still didn't have lunch?" he asked, as he settled down beside her and pointed to her half-finished plate, as he started eating the steam rice from his own.

"Well yeah! Since Shreya's gone out of town for her cousin's wedding, that leaves me all alone during the lunch-breaks sometimes!" she shrugged. She gave him a questioning look "Why're _you_ alone, by the way? Where are Sachin Sir and Nikhil?" she shot a cursory glance around the cafeteria. Vineet sighed heavily "They already had their lunch when they got time. Which leaves me all alone and freaking hungry!" he declared, as she smiled and shook her head in amusement.

There was a weird awkwardness suddenly floating in the air, since this was the first time they had got to be so open and friendly with each other. In an attempt to strike a conversation, Vineet theatrically cleared his throat "So, how's your father doing?" he asked as he took a bite of the chopped piece of tomato from his plate.

That earned him a long-suffering sigh from her, as she answered "He's doing fine. With the ongoing sessions with the psychiatrist, I hope he'll fit within a few weeks" she supplied with a hint of impending hope in her voice.

As he saw her face dropping down on the mention of her father's name, he instinctively held her hand "Hey Purvi, don't you worry! Considering the way you're taking care of him, I am pretty sure he'll be fit as a fiddle within no time." that produced a smile from her and he continued "And as far as I have seen, you're much stronger than any girl which I've known who can cope up with the darkest of times, and still stay resilient!"

Purvi let out a small laugh as she shook her head, her silky ponytail bouncing to either sides, as she did so. "I can say the same for you, Vineet." She smiled meaningfully. "Even you've been strong throughout the time, when you were being accused of being addicted to drugs. Trust me, there's no worse accusation than this. And even worse, when your own team is suspecting you!" she finished, her voice barely above a whisper as she averted her eyes.

He let out a deep sigh "Yeah I know.. it hurts!" It was now his turn to avert his eyes, as the painful incident shot in front of his eyes.

Composing herself, Purvi smiled distantly, her dimples complementing her pretty face "But _that_ is ACP Pradyuman! No matter who's standing in front of him, he'll see him or her as a suspect if the evidence points out! He never distinguishes between criminals and samaritans when the evidence is pointing against them!" she pointed out firmly, as he nodded in agreement.

"No wonder he's _the_ ACP Pradyuman!" he made quote-marks with his fingers, in an attempt to emphasize the importance of the words and Purvi laughed. "Whom the entire world is afraid of!" he widened his eyes to strengthen his point.

"But he can make a great father when time comes! I can never forget it was him who supported me and gave me the courage to fight back, when all the evidence turned out in my favour." Purvi said, suddenly getting emotional.

Vineet's tone was empathetic "Same goes for me! If not for ACP sir, I wouldn't have had the courage to prove myself innocent out of the terrifying accusation of being addicted to drugs!" he sighed.

"He can go to any extent to help his team, and provide much-needed love and affection to all of us! That's why we all love him, isn't it?" she gave him a questioning gaze and he nodded, as both of them smiled in spite of themselves.

He continued, after a deep silence "So how has it been? I mean.. the horrifying accusation of kidnapping, then murder?" he asked softly, trying not to hurt her in the process.

Needless to say, she had not expected it, and he instantly regretted it as he saw an agonized expression on her face. Before he could apologize, she spoke "It was not easy… definitely not easy for me to learn that I had been standing right in front of the monster who had kidnapped me as a child!" she whispered, unable to raise her voice. "All those years of pain, loneliness and agony came crashing down in front of me, when I saw my photograph in his house that day!"

"I am sorry Purvi, I didn't mean to hurt you!" Vineet said warily. Before he could speak any further, she smiled and assured him "It's OK Vineet! I have always been wondering with whom can I get to speak this out to." He smiled slightly and let her continue.

"You know what? I have never regretted the fact that I kidnapped Vikram from the hospital that day! I knew I would be doing something of the kind!" she felt a lump rise in her throat as she continued. "The thing which I regret is that, the main culprit – the one who killed my real parents was there, right in front of my eyes the whole while, _staying_ with me and manipulating my father. And I couldn't do anything about it!" her voice was hoarse, as she felt tears pricking at her eyes.

She blinked them away hastily and sniffled as she continued "Trust me Vineet, nothing was harder for me than coming to terms with the fact that my parents were murdered by the same lady whom I had once considered to be my only support for looking after my ailing father! " her voice cracked as she was finding it difficult to speak "I.. I'll forgive _myself_ for it! Never!" she let out, as her entire body was shaking.

Vineet, on the other hand, made desperate attempts to calm her down. "Purvi! Shh! It's OK!" he began patting her head. "She's been arrested. You can now take care of your father the way you want! You can always get to be with him!" he tried to relax her.

She seemed soothed, as she sighed heavily and looked at him. "Forget about me! You must have gone through a similar phase, right? How exactly did you.. you know.. deal with all that?"

It was now his turn to get agonized, and his face produced a deep frown as he looked down. "Me? It made me wanted to kill myself the moment I realized that I have been accused of taking _drugs_!" he suddenly looked at her, with a slightly disgusted expression "Drugs! I mean.. I don't even _know_ what are they supposed to do! How did they even _think_ that I consume drugs?"

"In case you've forgotten, we do a job where we constantly have to deal with things such as murder, suspect, evidence and…unfortunately more harsh terms such as _drugs_!" Purvi reminded him in a patronizing tone.

"Yeah! Good that I figured that out just in time and fought back." His voice suddenly went downcast, and the expression on his face changed from disgust to that of sadness and pain. "But trust me Purvi! I was never aware of the fact that the girl Neha loved me. I still consider myself responsible for her death!" When he looked up at her, she saw that his eyes were red "If I knew, I'd have _never_ let it happen!" he said, wiping the tears that had threatened to fall into his plate. "And what's worse than learning that the friends on whom you trust more than your life, would be plotting so evil against you!" he gathered himself and exclaimed painfully.

She instantly covered his hand with hers "Hey! C'mon, it's not _your_ mistake that she committed suicide! Everyone knows that! Please don't consider yourself responsible for anything which you haven't done purposely! " she pleaded, in an attempt to make him feel better.

Vineet took a deep breath before continuing "But the good thing is, the team believed in us! Be it late, but somewhere they knew that we were true!" he smiled, as Purvi nodded in agreement.

"One thing which I've learned from this traumatic experience, is that we should never lose hope. If you're true enough and if you make the correct efforts in proving that, _nothing_ or _no-one_ can do bad to us! " Purvi declared confidently.

"That's true, all right." Vineet agreed "And it gives you the strength to fight back in life! Like it gave both of us!" "Exactly!" Purvi said, as both of them shared a high-five.

"Seriously, being a CID officer, it has truly given me the much-needed courage to survive in this cruel world, when it is out to eat you down!" Purvi sighed. "Absolutely! And to prove and stand for ourselves in the darkest of our times!" Vineet sympathized.

"It really felt nice after talking to you. I'd never thought I'd be talking all this with anybody! Trust me, it feels as though someone has just pulled me out of a deep cavern, after being trapped inside for all these months without any fresh air to breathe." Vineet said warmly, and she leaned forward "We both are sailing in the same boat, Vineet!" that made him burst into small fits of laughter. "I guess I can rely upon you if I need a friend." He raised his eyebrows at her, and she gave him a look "Oh c'mon Vineet! Do you even need to ask? In fact, I know I can never get a better friend than you" she assured him. "Though I can't deny the fact that Kajal and Shreya have always been there for me whenever I needed them!" she smiled.

"Oh gosh! 3.30 already?" Vineet widened his eyes in horror, as he suddenly remembered to check his watch. "I had promised Nikhil to help him in completing the report for that last week's murder case!" he hurriedly rose from his seat, taking the emptied plate in his hand. "I guess we'd better get back to work!"

"Yeah" Purvi nodded empathetically, as she took her own plate "Before Abhijeet Sir gets any chance to complain against us!"

As they were making their way out of the cafeteria, Purvi suddenly stopped in her track and looked at Vineet "Thanks by the way! For listening to me!" He smiled meaningfully back at her "Anytime…friend!" she laughed and he gently tweaked her nose, as they walked back into the bureau.

**~~ The End ~~**

**A/N : **Nothing to say here. Please R & R! And yes, mention of names would be highly appreciated! Before I forget, some phrases have again been taken from PR's stories. So, thanks once again PR!


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